's long-awaited and highly anticipated seventh studio album, 

, is now available for the world to hear. The 16-song LP marks her first solo album in 6 years, following the pivotal visual album

including NPR Music's Sidney Madden and Ann Powers

 signifies a musical evolution for the global superstar.

, as well as a variety of credits from heavy hitters in the music industry, including several from The-Dream, a collaborator on the megahit "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" and producer Mike Dean, and features from Drake and Raphael Saadiq. 

, "This three act project was recorded over three years during the pandemic. A time to be still but also a time I found to be the most creative," an indication that the new release is the first of three parts.

Last month, she surprise dropped a single from the record, "BREAK MY SOUL," an energetic track rooted in dance music influences, featuring Big Freedia and sampling the 1990 diva house hit "Show Me Love" by Robin S.

"Thank you to all of the pioneers who originate culture, to all of the fallen angels whose contributions have gone unrecognized far too long," the statement on her website continues. 

In typical Bey fashion, not too many details about the album were disclosed more than a week ahead of its release. She took to social media to update the world on the project, including its official announcement, which came after removing profile pictures across her social media pages. 

Despite a proven ability to give the world exactly what Beyoncé wants when Beyoncé wants to, no more and no less, the new album was leaked online just two days before its release; some fans alleged that they'd seen the CD for sale early in media stores in France and the Netherlands. 

She addressed the leak, and the backlash from patient fans it received on social media, in a post just ahead of the album's actual release, 

: "I appreciate you for calling out anyone that was trying to sneak into the club early ... we are going to take our time and enjoy the music." To that end, and the album is initially being released without videos, in contrast to the visual-heavy releases of 

 in 2016 and the self-titled album in 2013.

"My intention was to create a safe place, a place without judgment," Beyoncé's 

 on her website reads. "A place to be free of perfectionism and overthinking. A place to scream, release, feel freedom. It was a beautiful journey of exploration. I hope you find joy in this music. I hope it inspires you to release the wiggle. Ha! And to feel as unique, strong, and sexy as you are."  

{"type":"doc","content":[{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"text":"","type":"text"}]}]}

Ashley Pointer

More than six years after the lauded visual album Lemonade, Beyoncé returns, evolves and responds to a very different world.


Beyonce performing outdoors in Los Angeles

Mason Poole/A.M.P.A.S. via Getty Images

Beyoncé - BREAK MY SOUL (Official Lyric Video)

Beyoncé releases seventh album, 'Renaissance'

Fatima Rahman

If this is the kind of havoc killusonline can wreak on a Tuesday night, there’s no telling what their future holds.


Nicholas Nicome

killusonline turn the Entry Inside Out

Ruby Mitchell, formerly known as R.A.D, recently released her first project in almost three years, 

 On the project, she glides over west coast-inspired beats provided by executive producer 

 and producers Bobby Raps and Frankie Bash, croons with fellow Minneapolitan Corbin, and reflects on the past three years. It’s a promising step in a new direction for the veteran Minneapolis rapper. 

Ruby greets me over Zoom, sitting outside with a cloudy sky behind her. She had eaten a turkey sub from Jersey Mike’s earlier in the day. It is truly the superior fast food sandwich experience, we agree. Though she is shy in the interview, she’s excited to share about the new project. 

Ruby has been making music since she was in middle school, back when it was cool to wear ludicrously tight, colorful jeans and skip backward in place — or “jerk” as the kids used to say. Inspired by older brothers and friends who made music, she began to take music seriously in high school when she realized she was the only one of her friends still making music. 

 show her veteran status. She is a frequent collaborator of Minneapolis artists and producers like Corbin, Bobby Raps, and Frankie Bash. These days, she splits her time between Minneapolis and Los Angeles, where she met Al B Smoov, now a mutual friend of hers and Bobby Raps. Al B Smoov has produced tracks for Isaiah Rashad and Smino and was a frequent collaborator of the deceased LA rap legend Drakeo the Ruler. His role as the executive producer of 

 helped to bring the West Coast flavor that is so present in the project. 

, Ruby Mitchell’s latest release was 2019’s 

. It was well-received, with the intro “Damn Self” receiving over 105,000 plays on SoundCloud. The project attracted the attention of a U.K. record label that wanted to redistribute it. Unfortunately, according to Ruby, the redistribution process didn’t work out due to a lack of promotion from the label. This left Ruby in limbo, still in the contract but hesitant to release another project with the label that mishandled her previous release.  

In the three years between releases, Ruby was focused on growth. One of the biggest changes she made was to her own name. “I didn't want to promote myself under that name [R.A.D],” Ruby explains. “It didn't feel like true to the type of music I was trying to make anymore. It felt gimmicky, almost. The name is more shocking than the music, really. So, I was like, I'm just gonna try it the good old-fashioned way and see how it goes.” 

Releasing music under her real name is more personal than ever. The time between projects also gave Ruby time to sit back and reflect on past relationships and feelings. “I had to stop smoking weed for a while, so that brought me into it,” Ruby reflects. “I get a lot of help from my girlfriend – just teaching me how to feel my feelings and all that... Processing relationships with people makes you realize why you did this, why this hurt you, or why this happened.” 

Now that she’s clear of the label drama and has set a strong foundation under her new name with 

, Ruby plans on having a more consistent output. She wants to inspire the same feeling that her favorite song, “Can You Stand the Rain” by New Edition, gives her in others. “I want people to want to listen to it over and over again,” Ruby smiles. “To get that feeling where it just hits you in the center of your chest.” 

Julian Green built and manages the music library for Carbon Sound and oversees content creation.  


Julian Green

Ruby Mitchell, formerly known as R.A.D, recently released her first project in almost three years, ‘Try My Luck.’


Courtesy of Ruby Mitchell

Allow Ruby Mitchell to Reintroduce Herself

Each week, we add new music, older tracks, which are known as “Gold adds”, and tracks that might not fit our general format, but still deserve a place in rotation because they serve our mission of showing the depth, breadth, and influence of Black musical expression - These are known as “Variety adds.”

For each new track, I write a brief description. These aren’t meant to be in-depth criticism, they’re just off-the-cuff info about the tracks. If you ever want actual in-depth reasoning, just reach out to me at jgreen@mpr.org.

We’re sharing this to get you excited to listen and to open up the floor for feedback and suggestions. If you want to request a song, 

. If you make music and want it considered for rotation, 

 If you want to give feedback directly, reach out to me at jgreen@mpr.org.

If you want to know what the track sounds like, scroll down to find Spotify playlists for the new, Gold, and Variety adds. Don’t forget to 

I know I say this every week, but this is another big week for adds on Carbon Sound and maybe the best yet. This week on The Message, Sanni B. will be exploring her Mt. Rushmore of women in hip-hop and R&B - the most influential and impactful women artists in these genres in her opinion. This along with my desire for some feel-good summer anthems led to us adding great new tracks like Flo Milli's "Bed Time" and classics like "One Minute Man" by Missy Elliott. Shoutout to Sanni for always having great track recommendations!

Cardi  B - “Hot Sh*t” feat. Lil Durk & Kanye West

Cardi B is great at making music that makes you feel like the flyest person in the room. “Hot Sh*t” is no exception. Lil Durk recently brought out Kanye West to perform this song at Rolling Loud Miami, even though Kanye cancelled his headlining performance for the night. Weird. Anyways, good song. 

Danger Mouse & Black Thought - “Aquamarine” feat. Michael Kiwanuka

With lines like, “My Words should be studied up in Berkeley and Julliard / All my bars is hard as solid gold bullion / My Name in the Qur’an like the kingdom of Sulieman”. It would be a crime not to put this in the library. I’m not a “real hip-hop" kind of guy, but, man, this is some real hip-hop. This is the latest collaboration between Danger Mouse and The Roots MC Black Thought, who released “No Gold Teeth” earlier this summer. 

Flo Milli exploded onto the scene with her viral 2019 remix of Playboi Carti’s SoundCloud classic “Beef”. Since then, she’s cemented herself as one of the most exciting, talented young rappers out today. “Bed Time” is an aggressive anthem from her latest release “You Still Here, Ho?” Like “Hot Sh*t”, this is real feel yourself music, but with a darker bent to it. Check the whole album out if you have the time. It was tough deciding between “Bed Time”, “PBC”, and “Do It Better” for what to add to rotation. There was no wrong answer, though. 

Glorilla & Hitkidd – F.N.F. (Let’s Go)

Song of the summer. Yeah, I said it. It’s all there. Cool acronym to learn and repeat ad-nauseum? Check. Chantable hook? Let’s GOOOOOOOOOO. 

 that makes you wish you were a part of the friend group on display? Check, check, check. This is a track for listening to while hanging out the window with your ratchet ass friends, as Glorilla would say. 

Kid Kenn - “Want Not A Need” feat. Baby Tate

There’s a strong theme of summer anthems this week. Music for a pregame with your friends before you hit the town. Kid Kenn and Baby Tate rap with vigor over a creative sample of Beethoven’s 5th, giving you the confidence to throw your middle finger up to anyone who doubts your worth. 

Megan Thee Stallion - “Pressurelicious” feat. Future

Added to rotation as soon as I heard Megan say, “Stomping on hoes so hard I’m knocking out Mario tokens”.  

Monica - “Friends” feat. Ty Dolla $ign

This new release from R&B legend Monica is a smooth track that will hopefully balance out the more chaotic adds this week. Ty Dolla $ign and Monica complement each other well, harmonizing beautifully at the end of the track. It’s got a nice, summery feeling to it thanks to the acoustic guitar on the track. 

Rema is a rising Nigerian Afrobeats star who recently released his debut album “Rave & Roses”. Full disclosure, this is one of my favorite songs released this year. If it’s not my favorite song, it definitely has my favorite moment in a song released this year, when the strings come in on the chorus and Rema professes his love to the subject of the song. It’s a beautiful moment that will have you thinking of that special someone. 

Recurrent adds are adds that aren’t new enough to be new and not old enough to be gold. Sanni B’s theme of Mt. Rushmore of women in hip-hop and R&B for The Message on Carbon Sound influenced her picks for tracks to add. I heard “Time Today” by Moneybagg Yo while watching Issa Rae’s great new show “Rap Sh!t”, which you should check out if you haven’t already. 

SZA - “Love Galore” feat. Travis Scott

This week, Sanni B. will be exploring her Mt. Rushmore of women hip-hop and R&B artists – the most influential and impactful women artists in these genres in her opinion. I was also thinking about how good 

 was, then got sad about what MTV is like these days, so I added “Numb / Encore” by Jay-Z and Linkin Park. I would say it’s a guilty pleasure, but what’s there to feel guilty about? 

Aretha Franklin - “Who’s Zoomin’ Who?”

Eve - “Ain’t Got No Dough” feat. Missy Elliott

Foxy Brown - “Get Me Home” feat. Blackstreet

Jay-Z & Linkin Park - “Numb / Encore”

Missy Elliott - “One Minute Man” feat. Ludacris

Outkast – “Movin' Cool (The Afterparty)”

Whitney Houston - “Heartbreak Hotel” feat. Faith Evans & Kelly Price

Some classic jungle, house, and jazz for our late-night listeners! 

Buju Banton – “Champion - Miami Mix”

DJ Rashad - “In Da Club Before Eleven O’ Clock”

Roni Size & DJ Die - “All The Crew Big Up (95 Relick)”

Sun Ra & His Arkestra - “Springtime Again”

All of the tracks added to rotation on Carbon Sound the week of July 25, 2022.


Designed by Cornel Beard

Carbon Sound New Music Adds Week of July 25, 2022

Carbon Sound Gold Adds Week of July 25, 2022

New Music on Carbon Sound - Week of July 25, 2022

Kaj Johnson

A review and photo gallery of the best performers from Pitchfork Music Festival at Union Park in  Chicago the weekend of July 15, 2022.


Morgan Winston

Nine Standouts From Pitchfork Music Festival 2022 - Review and Photos

This week, there are great new tracks like Steve Lacy’s “Sunshine”, new local music from Mati and Sahn, and great Gold adds recommended by host Sanni Brown. This week on The Message, she’ll be spinning “Straight up BANGAZ!” - in her own words. She’ll be going through the decades day by day playing her favorites.

I was also thinking about the movie “ATL” and how great its soundtrack was while looking for Gold tracks, so there are a few of those tracks, too.

There’s something about Brooklyn drill that really does it for me these days. “Walk Em” flips a sample of Freda Payne’s “I Get High (On Your Memory)” and pairs it with 26ar’s menacing delivery and classic drill bass. Without spoiling anything, the use of the sample adds a lot of meaning to the track.  

This short and sweet track from DaniLeigh features nothing but DaniLeigh’s sweet vocals gliding over a guitar loop. Simple and effective. 

Good song. In the library. It’s that simple, folks. 

Love when a song sounds like it should be playing during a montage or end credits sequence. “If You Love Me” fits the bill.  

Hailing from Brazil, LYZZA makes music that doesn’t sound like anything else I’ve heard before. “Lucky You” moves and morphs throughout its runtime, starting simple and blossoming into samba-inspired breaks toward the middle of the track. 

With every release, local artist Mati becomes more polished. His intentional releases of singles throughout the summer show that he’s focused on refining his craft. With the 

 looking as good as it does, it’s clear that he’s got a whole team behind him.  

Mykki Blanco – “French Lessons” feat. Kelsey Lu

Lots of sad adds this week! Sorry about that.  

Sitting on the ledge of First Avenue, Sahn’s smooth, confident delivery and the earwormy production draw in anyone who clicks on the link to the “VILLANOUS” video. It’s an impressive debut for this local artist. 

Steve Lacy - “Sunshine” feat. Fousheé

Another sad song! Worth it. Coming from Steve’s latest album “Gemini Rights,” “Sunshine” has a bouncy beat and memorable lyrics. 

 if you haven’t already, unless you’re afraid of heights. If that’s the case, you probably shouldn’t. 

This week on The Message, Sanni B. will explore bangers from the decades, starting with the ‘90s on Monday going through the ‘20s so far. Her recommendations for tracks comprise most of this list of tracks. Her recommendations made me think of the movie “ATL” for some reason, so I sprinkled in some of my favorites from that soundtrack. Check it out below: 

Fun fact: an alternate version of this track was used as the theme song for Nickelodeon’s show 

Big Boi - “Kryptonite” feat. Purple Ribbon All-Stars

Cherish - “Do It To It” feat. Sean Paul

Deborah Cox - “We Can’t Be Friends”

Dem Franchize Boyz - “I Think They Like Me” feat. Jermaine Dupri & Da Brat & Bow Wow

“Sacrifices” feat. 2 Chainz & Young Thug

Note: “Sacrifices” contains what many consider to be Young Thug’s best feature verse ever. I’m inclined to agree, but “I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)” might be my favorite.

Juvenile - “Back That Thang Up” feat. Mannie Fresh & Lil Wayne

Keith Sweat - “Nobody” feat. Athena Cage

Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz - “Get Low” feat. Ying Yang Twins

“Lovers and Friends” feat. Usher & Ludacris

LL Cool J - “Hey Lover” feat. Boyz II Men

Shai - “If I Ever Fall In Love” (Original Acapella Version)

Somethin’ for The People - “My Love Is The Shhh!”

All of the tracks added to rotation on Carbon Sound the week of July 18, 2022.


New Music on Carbon Sound - Week of July 18, 2022

Check out Isaiah Stillwell’s photos of Sir Lucius and friends at Artspace Jackson Flats on Saturday, July 16.


Isaiah Stillwell

Photos: Sir Lucius, Zodiak, FruitPunchLoverBoy, Lightning Rager Zarek, and Nassir at Artspace Jackson Flats

A young cartoon girl wearing large headphones hunches over a softly lit desk. She's scribbling in a notebook. To her side, a striped orange cat gazes out on a beige cityscape.

The Lofi Girl is an internet icon. The animation plays on a loop on the "lofi hip hop radio — beats to relax/study to" YouTube stream. 

It's a 24/7 live stream that plays low-fidelity hip hop music — or lofi for short.

"I would say lofi music is the synthesis of golden era rap aesthetic with the Japanese jazz aesthetics that is then put through this lens of nostalgia," says Hixon Foster, a student and lofi artist.

He describes listening to lofi as a way to escape. Some songs are lonely or melancholy, others remind him of his school years in Michigan and toiling away at homework while listening to tunes.

The genre has become increasingly popular in the last few years. There are countless people making lofi music, fan art, memes, spin-off streams, and Halloween costumes.

Basically, Lofi Girl is everywhere. And with nearly 11 million people subscribed to the channel, the Lofi Girl stream has been the go-to place to find this music. 

But last weekend, she went missing. YouTube had taken down the stream due to a false copyright claim.

"There were camps that were confused and camps that were angry," Foster said. "I mainly saw kind of, at least through the lofi Discord, various users being like, 'Oh my God what is this? What's really going on with this?'"

YouTube quickly apologized for the mistake, and the stream returned two days later. But this isn't the first time musicians have been wrongfully shut down on YouTube. 

"There's been a lot of examples of copyright going against the ideas of art and artistic evolution," Foster said. "It feels like a lot of the legal practices are going towards stifling artists, which is interesting when the main idea of them is to be protecting them."

Lofi Girl made it through the ordeal relatively unscathed, but smaller artists who don't have huge platforms may not be so lucky. 

"They are at the mercy of people sending abusive takedowns and YouTube's ability to detect and screen for them," said James Grimmelmann, a law professor at Cornell University.

He said false copyright claims were rampant.

"People can use them for extortion or harassment or in some cases to file claims to monetize somebody else's videos," he said. 

YouTube gets so many copyright claims that they can't carefully evaluate whether each one is legitimate, Grimmelmann said. 

They leave it up to the artist to prove the claims are wrong — sometimes in court — which can be a long process. 

Grimmelmann said it's up to Congress to fix copyright law for it to work better for artists. The current laws incentivize YouTube to err on the side of removing artists' content, rather than being precise in their enforcement of copyright claims.

"We ended up with this system because in the 1990s, when the contours of the internet and copyright are still coming into view, this is the compromise that representatives of the copyright industries and the internet industries worked out," Grimmelmann said. 

"It's a compromise that hasn't destroyed anybody's business and has made it possible for artists to put their stuff online," Grimmelmann said. "And there has not been the appetite to try to upend that compromise because somebody's ox will get gored if they do."

Luckily, Lofi Girl and her millions of subscribers were able to make a big enough stink to get YouTube's attention quickly and get the issue resolved.


For now, lofi fans can get back to relaxing and studying. Lofi Girl will be right there with you.


Kai McNamee

Michael Levitt

When YouTube took the Lofi Girl stream down by mistake, fans were not happy. It was the latest episode in an ongoing debate over copyright and bogus claims.


Listen to the Story

YouTube

lofi hip hop radio 📚 beats to relax/study to

Lofi Girl disappeared from YouTube and reignited debate over bogus copyright claims

Under Wednesday night's full moon, Les Nubians performed a silky show at the Dakota in Minneapolis. 


Les Nubians Spread Love At The Dakota

Check out Isaiah Stillwell’s photos of Bobby Rethwish, XINA, and SYM1 at the 7th St. Entry in Minneapolis on Wednesday, July 13. 


Stories

Beyoncé releases seventh album, 'Renaissance'

killusonline turn the Entry Inside Out

Allow Ruby Mitchell to Reintroduce Herself

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New Music on Carbon Sound - Week of July 25, 2022

Nine Standouts From Pitchfork Music Festival 2022 - Review and Photos

New Music on Carbon Sound - Week of July 18, 2022

Photos: Sir Lucius, Zodiak, FruitPunchLoverBoy, Lightning Rager Zarek, and Nassir at Artspace Jackson Flats

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Lofi Girl disappeared from YouTube and reignited debate over bogus copyright claims

Les Nubians Spread Love At The Dakota

Photos: Bobby Rethwish, XINA, and SYM1 at the 7th St. Entry

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